Thursday 5th May 2011
Thames & Chilterns Vineyards Association
2010 Bothy Oxford Dry
Grapes: Findling, Kerner, Huxelrebe, Solaris, Bacchus
This is meant to be a dry white and is not dry enough, really. Has a touch of bitterness and a very odd finish. Unfocused and lacking identity - too many grapes in the mix. Good wine-making, though.
2010 Bothy
100% Bacchus. Picked too young? Formaldehyde-green "freshness", very “chimique”. Good acidity.
2006 Stanlake Park Wine Estate Brut NV (sparkling)
Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. No dosage. Not bad.
2009 Stanlake Park Wine Estate Pinot Blush
Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and 2 others. Yes, it should be blushing, with embarrassment.
2009 Stanlake Park Wine Estate Madeleine
This is a nice, “understandable” grape. It has personality and the wine is well-made and expresses the grape in a focused and clear fashion.
2009 Stanlake Park Wine Estate Bacchus
This is a clear expression of Bacchus: solid, dry almost in a Pinot Grigio style but with its own personality. Good.
SPARKLING WHITES
Chapel Down Vintage Reserve Brut NV
Grapes: Reichensteiner, Müller-Thurgau, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay.
Les boules sont trop mousseaux en bouche. Inélégant et lourdes.
Three Choirs Classic Cuvee NV
(85% Seyval Blanc, 15% Pinot Noir)
Sal au nez et en bouche
2007 Brightwell Sparkling Chardonnay
Savonneuse et sal. Pas bien.
2003 Nyetimber Blancs de Blancs
100% Chardonnay. It’s ok> but boring and lacking any complexity. Very one-dimensional.
2006 Nyetimber Classic Cuvee
55% Chardonnay, 24% Pinot Noir, 16% Pinot Meunier. Not bad, well-made.
2006 Chapel Down
50% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay. Trop de dosage : too dosed, too sweet.
Stanlake Park Wine Estate Stanlake Brut NV
Had this at earlier and liked it. It’s tight, correct, good.
2004 Chapel Down Pinot Reserve
70% Pinot Noir, 30% Pinot blanc. Well-made, correct, but no more than that.
2009 Three Choirs Blanc de Noirs
100% Pinot Noir. Une manque de parfum, aucun nez ou bouche (lack of aromas or taste – nothing there.)
2006 Denbies Cubitt Sparkling Cuvee
100% Pinot Noir – ok, but again, these wine are lacking complexity, movement, texture.
2008 Ridgeview Knightsbridge Blanc de Noirs
63% Pinot Noir, 37% Pinot Meunier. This is interesting, has some personality.
STILL DRY WHITE
2010 Chapel Down Flint Dry
(Chardonnay, Baccus, Huxelrube, Pinot Blanc) There is nothing either dry nor flinty about this wine. Unfocused.
2009 Three Choirs The English House Dry
(40% Seyval Blanc, 20% Huxelrube, 20% Phoenix, 20% Madeleine Angevine) Nice.
2009 Three Choirs Midsummer Hill
(35% Seyval Blanc, 30% Madeleine Angevine, 15% Orion, 15% Muller-Thurgau)
Yes. This estate is doing something right.
2009 Three Choirs Estate Reserve Coleridge Hill
(40% Phoenix, 30% Madeleine Angevine, 15% Orion, 15% Muller-Thurgau)
Nice. I am enjoying these, but is that simply because they are the best of a boring bunch ?
2009 Brightwell Oxford Flint
100% Huxelrube. Nice.
2008 Brightwell Crispin
100% Reichensteiner. Better, it is interesting to get a chance to taste this grape on its own. I do not know it well at all. Dry, tight, focused.
2009 Chapel Down Chardonnay
Gross
2009 Chapel Down Pinot Blanc
Ok, harmless enough.
2009 Three Choirs Cellar Door Bacchus
Gross
2009 Brightwell Bacchus
Nicely done – lovely acidity.
2007 Stanlake Park Wine Estate Kings Fumé
100% Ortega. All goes terribly wrong here. The fault of the grape or the fault o the oak programme ? It is over-oaked, diluted and disguting. Is it a variety that can take oak if done properly ? This is a mess.
2009 Astley Veritas
100% Kerner. Interesting. Liked this.Unchaptalised.
2009 Biddenden Gribble Bridge Dornfelder
Not as nice as Brightwell’s. Has a very bon-bon cherry medicinal taste.
2010 Bolney Estate Pinot Noir
Nice, but no varietal character, at least not what one would expect. I’m all for variations on a theme, but show me a theme.
2009 Chapel Down Trinity
Pinot Noir, Rondo, Pinot Noir Precoce. Hideous. A dirty, diluted soup of smoked bacon.
2008 Bolney Wine estate Lynchgate red (Dark Harvest)
Rondo, Dornfelder, Triomphe. Austere, bitter, unyielding and non-interestring. Again, it these wines are not saying anything or communicating clearly … all gibberish and confused.